Minutes of The Windsor-Severance Historical Society
August 22, 2022
The Windsor-Severance Historical Society met in person on Monday, August 22nd at 10:00 a.m. In attendance were Kristie Melendez, Sue Buxmann, Dan Meyers, Marcela Johnson, Ruth Brunner, and Judy Firestien. Gary Martin, from Severance, attended as a guest. He has had a membership for a couple of years, enjoys history, and would like to get more involved with the Society.
Call to Order – Kristie Melendez called the meeting to order at 10:08 a.m. Monthly Reports/Approvals
July Minutes – The Minutes from the previous meeting on July 25, 2022 were reviewed. The Minutes were approved as presented. Motion carried.
Treasurer’s Report – Kristie gave the Treasurer’s Report as provided by Elaine stating the balance in checking was $11,929.30. The balance in savings was $23,524.96. Kristie thought the Society was in a good position and stable. The checking balance will decrease a bit as upcoming bills are paid which would include the annual P.O. Box fee of $166, the last two bills for rack cards of $180, and the cost of the ad for inclusion in the Visit Windsor publication of $324.60.
Membership Update and Status – A couple of renewal memberships had been received. Kristie will bring the membership list next meeting, but we know membership dues received have exceeded the cost of doing the membership mailing/drive. Kristie is also making sure emails and contact information is being captured as memberships come in.
Old Business
Family Farm Tour Update – The Tour registration is more easily available online through the Windsor Parks and Recreation website. Dan handed out a lot of rack cards over the weekend during Severance Days. The Tailholt Metro District also added the Tour to their website. Dan added that he, Judy, Sue and Tom Buxmann did a trial run of the route for the tour and discussed
and learned a lot of history of the area! The timing was good and there will be quite a few historic spots to point out. Ten people are signed up for October, but no participants yet for September. We are wondering if the afternoon time works better for families with kids. Dan will contact Laura to get an update on participant numbers and then a decision can be made the Monday before on whether the tour will take place on Sept. 17.
Judy will put together a booklet with the “historic points of interest” and ask everyone to take a look at it for accuracy. Dan and Judy are willing to be “tour guides” on the vans. Laura will drive one van and will have a driver for the second van. Dan will follow up to be sure vans are still available. Kristie will donate a case of bottled water for the tour and Dan will bring coolers and ice. We can discuss further once we have participant numbers. There had been a call about accessibility for the tour. Chairs might be placed at Jacoby Farm ahead of time to allow for participants to sit, if necessary and Judy can offer a golf cart at her farm. We will also want to know the number of kids and number of adults. Judy also mentioned she has friends who are willing to bring several sheep for a petting zoo. There has been good coverage of the tour by the Town of Severance and it was also in the Windsor Chamber newsletter.
Legends and Lessons Event – November 6, 2022 – We will kick off our first inductees into the “Hall of History” with this event. It was decided at the last meeting that the inductees would be Marge Straube, Sue Buxmann, and Harold Stoll (posthumously). Family of inductees and those who have done videos will be invited. Food was catered last year by the Hearth. Food could be decided at the October meeting. A plaque or some sort of item for recognition could be done. Maybe some sort of plaque could be placed in the Creamery and names listed there in coordination with the Town.
Kristie also mentioned the Society owned the Creamery building until about three years ago when the Town participated in the Statue. The “Mom figure” needed to be added to the Statue and the Town made an offer to exchange the property for the cost of “Mom” being added to the Statue. The Town is doing due diligence on the back lots and have found that there is a piece of property that is still in the Society’s name on the west side of the building. This needs to be discussed. There was also some discussion about housing items for the Society and agreements regarding artifacts that are property of the Society.
2022 Video Projects – The Windsor High School class of 1972 will be meeting at Vecinos at 4:00 p.m. on September 2nd. They would be available for video interviews at 3:00 p.m. This group of kids started first grade and continued through all grades together. Ruth will try to complete some video interviews but may not be available. Dan may be available to help. Another memory card may be needed for the camera. Casey Johnson is also available for interview as he has been involved with the Harvest Festival for about 30 years. His story can be captured after the festival in September or October.
Tails of Tailholt 2 – The book idea is on hold for now.
Easel and Picture – Dan brought the easel and picture to Severance Town Hall and added rack cards to the stand next to the photo. He reported it will move next to TDK Bank. The Chamber of Commerce may be willing to move the easel to different locations around Town.
Windsor News – Laura was not in attendance.
Severance News – Dan is now the Liaison with the Weld RE-4 School District for the Town of Severance.
New Business
Selling books at Vecinos Mexican Grill and Cantina – Kristie will have books available for sale at the restaurant. There may be interest from participants of the 1970s Windsor Reunions that are taking place over Labor Day weekend.
Commerce City Meeting – Commerce City Historical Society would like to meet with the group on September 26. The regular meeting will be from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and then there will be a joint meeting from 11:00 a.m. to noon. After that, the group will visit Boardwalk Park and the museum buildings and then go to lunch.
Next Meeting – The next meeting will be September 26, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. The meeting was adjourned at 11:07 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Judy Firestien, Secretary